Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Socialism is putting out fires in Los Angeles.

Why do we need socialism to put out wildfires in Los Angeles? Why not let the free market put out the fires? Why not let private companies hire the firefighters and charge the residents for putting out the fires that may destroy their homes?

As the flames race down the hill toward your home, a private firefighting company would be there to charge you a fee for evacuating you and putting out the fires. You would need to provide a credit card for the service.

What about the people who cannot afford firefighters? Well, they should "grow up" and pay up to keep themselves and their homes safe from the fires, and if their homes go up in flames, well, that's just the invisible hand of the free market.

And the corporate firefighters are not allowed to use taxpayer-funded roads to get to the fires or public water systems to put them out. You simply cannot expect private firefighters to compete with a public service. They have to make a profit.